C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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The Linhof Reporter is a medium-format (6x9 cm) folding press camera introduced around 1965. It was Linhof's entry into the medium-format press camera segment, offering the company's characteristic German build quality and a coupled rangefinder in a 120-roll-film format. The standard configuration paired the body with a **Schneider Symmar** lens mounted in a Compur leaf shutter — a combination that delivered sharp, contrasty 6x9 negatives well-suited to both press and portrait work.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the — format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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Kodak Portra 160 is a professional C-41 color negative film with fine grain, soft contrast, and natural color.
View profile →C41
Kodak Ektar 100 is a fine-grain C-41 color negative film with saturated color and high sharpness.
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About this camera
Linhof's medium-format press answer: 6x9 rangefinder with Schneider glass, built like a Technika.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 6x9 cm (120 film) |
| Lens | Schneider Symmar (fixed) |
| Shutter | Compur leaf; ~1s to 1/500s |
| Flash Sync | All speeds (leaf shutter) |
| Viewfinder | Coupled rangefinder |
| Frames per Roll | 8 (6x9 on 120) |
| Battery | None required |
| Weight | ~1,400–1,700 g (unverified) |
Linhof's primary line through the 1950s and 1960s was the 4x5 Technika. As 35mm SLRs increasingly took over daily press work, there was a window in the mid-1960s for a medium-format press camera that gave larger negatives than 35mm without the bulk of 4x5. The Reporter was Linhof's response: a self-contained 6x9 body with a fixed, high-quality lens rather than the interchangeable-lens system of the larger cameras.
The Schneider Symmar lens was a natural choice — it was the workhorse lens shipped with Technika bodies and was well known to professional photographers of the era. The Symmar's coverage and resolving power translated well to 6x9 press use.
The Reporter was not a long-production model; it was eventually overtaken by the Mamiya Universal and Press systems (which offered interchangeable lenses) and by the improving 35mm professional market.
The Linhof Reporter is a relatively obscure camera in the broader medium-format canon, overshadowed by the Mamiya Press and Universal systems and by Linhof's own Technika line. Its significance is as a piece of the mid-1960s press photography transition: German manufacturers briefly tried to extend their 4x5 press heritage into medium format before the market consolidated around Japanese interchangeable-lens systems and eventually 35mm.
For photographers today, the Reporter offers the combination of 6x9 format (large, printable negatives), Schneider glass quality, and coupled rangefinder focusing — all in a compact folding body. The leaf shutter syncs at all speeds, making it usable with flash at any shutter speed, an advantage over SLRs for flash-lit indoor press work.
The standard lens is a Schneider Symmar in Compur shutter. The Symmar is a double-Gauss-derived convertible design: used as a full-length unit it is a normal focal length for 6x9 (~105–120mm range); the front element can be removed to use only the rear element as a longer focal length.
As a fixed-lens camera the accessory ecosystem is limited. Close-up lens attachments and filters for the front element thread are the main options. Roll film is standard 120.
BW
Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
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